Two of the most-anticipated Bollywood films of the year released on Eid. Akshay and Tiger’s action thriller directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and Ajay Devgn’s sports drama ‘Maidaan’ released on the same day. While the early reviews favoured ‘Maidaan’, the box office numbers have a different story to tell.
Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff starrer ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ witnessed an impressive start. According to the industry tracker Sacnilk.com, the film minted ₹15.50 crore on the opening day at box office in domestic market. Moreover, BMCM team claimed their worldwide day 1 collection to be ₹33.33 crore. The high on action drama witnessed an overall 29.30% Hindi occupancy on Thursday.
On the other hand, Ajay Devgn’s ‘Maidaan’ had a relatively slow start at the box office. Despite positive reviews, the film earned only ₹7. 10 crore on its opening day. The occupancy also worryingly remained below 16 per cent. The opening numbers are comparatively low than Devgn’s last release ‘Shaitaan’ which earned ₹14.75 crore on day 1. The film, however, has Saturday and Sunday to pick momentum and build on the positive reviews coming in.
The budget of ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ is reportedly around ₹350 crore while ‘Maidaan’ also has a high production budget of ₹250 crore owing to its multiple delays. With such high budgets, it is extremely important for both the films to make it up in the long weekend.
Helmed by Ali Abbas Zafar who is known for films like ‘Sultan’ and ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’, ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' stars Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Manushi Chillar and Alaya F in lead roles. While Prithviraj Sukumaran plays the villain, Sonakshi Sinha also features in the film.
The biopic sports drama is based on the life of football coach Syed Abdul Rahim. Besides Ajay Devgn, the film also stars Priyamani and Gajraj Rao in significant roles. Directed by Amit Sharma, 'Maidaan' held paid previews across India on April 10 ahead of its official release on April 11, coinciding with Eid.
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